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Video4Linux
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>V4L had been introduced late into the 2.1.X development cycle of the Linux kernel. Retroactively being renamed to V4L1, it was dropped in kernel 2.6.38.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>V4L2 is the second version of V4L. Video4Linux2 fixed some design bugs and started appearing in the 2.5.x kernels. Video4Linux2 drivers include a compatibility mode for Video4Linux1 applications, though the support can be incomplete and it is recommended to use Video4Linux1 devices in V4L2 mode. The project DVB-Wiki is now hosted on <a href="/facts/LinuxTV/DDGPJHgJ">LinuxTV</a> web site.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>Some programs support V4L2 through the <a href="/facts/Media_resource_locator/VufA16ls">media resource locator</a> v4l2://. </p> <h2 id="software-support">Software support</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/AMSN/XX49L6WM">aMSN</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cheese_(software)/1CwX8vpt">Cheese (software)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Cinelerra/AERqKLyp">Cinelerra</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/CloudApp/2E4hRKFp">CloudApp</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Ekiga/lMLnvIo7">Ekiga</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/FFmpeg/85yf3kHI">FFmpeg</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/FreeJ/XEpC5qg3">FreeJ</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/GStreamer/34EkSQAf">GStreamer</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Guvcview/1aRohKMT">Guvcview</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Kdetv/sl0kj0aK">kdetv</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Kopete/SYxAj3QQ">Kopete</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Libav/NKKDFqpf">Libav</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Linphone/SeNaJJRY">Linphone</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/LiVES/J4wssJF5">LiVES</a></li> <li>motion</li> <li><a href="/facts/MPlayer/nfyW0yjn">MPlayer</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Mpv_(media_player)/VGkzJm7R">mpv</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/MythTV/zK2W6UMn">MythTV</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Open_Broadcaster_Software/Hw6FJhaF">Open Broadcaster Software</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/OpenCV/V1tXAxyz">OpenCV</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Peek_(software)/kkwJnPIq">Peek</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/PyGame/DKtaG9LK">PyGame</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer/9tSff0Lg">SDL3</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Skype/qdKbuh23">Skype</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Tvheadend/CofUsCDR">Tvheadend</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/VLC_media_player/aNurLBXb">VLC media player</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Xawtv/wzL77jyj">xawtv</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Xine/gm2KJFor">Xine</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/ZoneMinder/mfGc6Rfw">ZoneMinder</a></li></ul> <h2 id="criticism">Criticism</h2> <p>Video4Linux has a complex negotiation process, which caused not all applications having support for all cameras.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Direct_Rendering_Manager/AjCBBvrU">Direct Rendering Manager</a> – defines a kernel-to-user-space interface for access to graphics rendering and video acceleration</li> <li><a href="/facts/Mesa_3D/oxcVI6bd">Mesa 3D</a> – implements video acceleration APIs</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://git.linuxtv.org/media_tree.git/tree">media_tree</a> development git</li> <li><a href="https://git.linuxtv.org/v4l-utils.git/tree">v4l-utils</a> development git</li> <li><a href="https://linuxtv.org/downloads/v4l-dvb-apis/">Linux Media Infrastructure API (V4L2, DVB and Remote Controllers)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page">Video4Linux-DVB wiki</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.exploits.org/v4l">Video4Linux resources</a></li> <li><a href="http://video4bsd.sourceforge.net/">Video4BSD</a>, a Video4Linux emulation layer</li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707012535/http://alumnos.elo.utfsm.cl/~yanez/video-for-linux-sample-programs/">Video For Linux (V4L) sample applications</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110707012738/http://alumnos.elo.utfsm.cl/~yanez/video-for-linux-2-sample-programs/">Video For Linux 2 (V4L2) sample application</a></li> <li><a href="https://archive.today/20130103002424/http://v4l4j.googlecode.com/">Access Video4Linux devices from Java</a></li> <li><a href="https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable.git/log/?qt=grep&q=v4l">kernel.org</a></li> <li><a href="http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howto/usb.video">OpenWrt Wiki</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.ideasonboard.org/uvc/">Linux UVC driver and tools</a>, <a href="/facts/USB_video_device_class/7m6jcnye">USB video device class</a> (UVC)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"An Introduction to the Video4Linux Framework: How to write a video capture driver". 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-16. <a href="https://fosdem.org/2014/schedule/event/v4l_intro/" target="_blank">https://fosdem.org/2014/schedule/event/v4l_intro/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Overview of the V4L2 driver framework". Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2013-12-04. Overview of the V4L2 driver framework. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165356/https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/video4linux/v4l2-framework.txt" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140221165356/https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/video4linux/v4l2-framework.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Path to a Standardized Video Codec API" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2014-01-06. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140106032317/https://events.linuxfoundation.org/images/stories/pdf/lceu2012_debski.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20140106032317/https://events.linuxfoundation.org/images/stories/pdf/lceu2012_debski.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"gspca - LinuxTVWiki". LinuxTV. Retrieved 2024-01-12. <a href="https://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Gspca" target="_blank">https://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Gspca</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Schimek, Michael H. "Video for Linux Two API Specification". LinuxTV. Retrieved 2024-01-12. <a href="https://www.linuxtv.org/downloads/legacy/video4linux/API/V4L2_API/spec-single/v4l2.html" target="_blank">https://www.linuxtv.org/downloads/legacy/video4linux/API/V4L2_API/spec-single/v4l2.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Open Broadcaster Software | OBS". obsproject.com. <a href="https://obsproject.com/" target="_blank">https://obsproject.com/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Add video capture API proposal by 1bsyl". GitHub. <a href="https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/pull/5477" target="_blank">https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/pull/5477</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Corbet, Jonathan (2019-07-25). "Access to complex video devices with libcamera". LWN.net. Retrieved 2023-02-06. <a href="https://lwn.net/Articles/794555/" target="_blank">https://lwn.net/Articles/794555/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>